Chicago's Historic Greek Orthodox Church Saved by Mystery Donation

A last-minute mystery donation of approximately $2 million has saved Holy Trinity, one of the Midwest’s oldest Greek Orthodox churches, from the auction block.

The donation came in on Friday, just hours before the church, in the Belmont Central neighborhood, was due to be put on the auction block.

Holy Trinity parishioners have been fighting to save the church since learning it was saddled with $8 million in debt.

It is not clear exactly how much money was put forward, but it is believe to be around $2 million. Holy Trinity’s priest said that is more than enough to delay the auction and allow the church to file for bankruptcy.

That will buy the church a bit of time, so that they can sell a shuttered school they own in the nearby northern suburb of Deerfield.

According to CBS News, Father Nicholas Jonas said it was literally an eleventh-hour surprise.

“We prayed for a miracle to happen, and we didn’t give up,” Jonas said. “Late last night a group of guardian angels came forward.”

Services will continue this weekend. There will be a church service Saturday morning at 9 AM to celebrate the Feast of Saint Eleutherios, and the regularly scheduled Sunday morning service will take place at 9:45.